Birthday
by Blanche
Summary: Tristan finds himself standing outside the Gilmore house at the night of Rory's birthday party.


Disclaimer: They're all mine, mine, mine! They're not? Damn! Same old story, don't own a thing. Except for the story.   
Spoilers: Not too many, story set after Rory's Birthday Parties.   
  
Birthday  
  
He'd been standing outside her house for a good twenty minutes by now. Somehow he couldn't bring himself to walk to the door, so he stayed where he was, half hidden in the shadows. What was he doing here anyway? It had seemed a good idea when he left Hartford. He had been thinking about it ever since he had left the party yesterday. The birthday party her grandmother had arranged for her, the one that she probably wished to hell. He had seen it in her eyes, how uncomfortable she felt with all the people she had not invited. His presence there didn't exactly help. She had been irritated at seeing him and wasn't hiding it. And he had once again resorted to kindergarten tactics and teased her about it. Sometimes he couldn't understand why it was impossible for them to be nice and civil against each other.   
  
He knew he had been nothing but a jerk to her ever since they first met. But it wasn't only his fault. She was a quick thinker and would always find a witty or insulting retort to his teasing. And he must say that most of the time he liked it. Only lately had it begun to bother him, mostly because her insults were dead on. It was like she knew how to hit him where it hurt the most. That he didn't like.   
  
The first time he had cornered her offering her the notes she need for class, he had just wanted to shake things up a bit. She had looked so damn innocent and he had wanted to see how far he could push it. Her grandparents were part of the Hartford elite and he had heard the stories of her mother. So he figured that all that innocence was just an act. But when he had closed in on her, almost pressing her against the locker, he had realised that he couldn't have been more wrong. And after some time he knew that nothing about her was an act. No one could ever know just how refreshing that felt to him.   
  
Sometimes he regretted his actions that day. It seemed that they had laid the grounds to their relationship, or rather lack of relationship. He wondered if she hated him, not letting her be even though she had repeatedly asked him to. He was sure that she could have made a great friend, someone that his parents would have approved of, unlike all the friends he had brought home so far. If only he wouldn't keep screwing everything up all the time.   
  
Every time he tried to get close he would make some offensive comment and she would instantly turn on the defence. He probably deserved that, always teasing her like he did. He wondered what would make him lower her guard around him, but guessed that he already ruined that chance. He had taken a chance tonight, driving to Stars Hollow, thinking that maybe she would be more comfortable in this setting and maybe that would give him a chance?   
  
It had seemed a good idea then, he had even brought the gift he had bought for her, but never got the chance to give her last night. But now he wasn't so sure anymore. It looked like they were having a party, another birthday party he assumed. And he wasn't sure he should disturb them. He had caught a glimpse of her through one the windows earlier and she had looked happy, maybe he should just leave and let her continue being happy? He was just about to get in his car when a scruffy voice made him freeze.   
  
"Not going in then, kid?"  
  
He turned and saw a man in flannel shirt standing a few metres away holding two large bags of what seemed to be ice. Probably for the party, he thought.   
  
"I'm not invited." he answered simply.   
  
"Didn't stop all of the people in there." the man said and nodded towards the house. "Gotta get the ice inside, you coming?"   
  
He started moving towards the house and Tristan looked at the car and then to the house. What the hell, he thought and grabbed the present from his car and went after the man with the ice. Getting the door open, they were met with a squeal from a dark-haired woman. Tristan heard her calling the man Luke and praising him for bringing ice. He didn't know if he should move inside the house or just wait until someone noticed him.   
  
"Well, if it isn't the junior devil himself?"  
  
Tristan jumped at the sound of the voice and saw the dark-haired woman standing in front of him. He recognised her from the party last night. Must be Rory's mother, he decided.   
  
"Miss Gilmore." his voice made a croaking sound and he cleared his throat.   
  
"Come to destroy this party to, hey?" she asked with a strange look in her eyes and he couldn't quite tell if she meant it or if she was just playing with him.   
  
"Well..." he started, trying to come up with an excuse to as why he was there, but she was already turning around, calling into the house.   
  
"Daughter of mine, you have a guest!" She then winked at him and disappeared after the man carrying the ice.   
  
Strange family, he thought just as Rory came bouncing towards the door and abruptly stopped when she saw him standing there.   
  
"Oh,"she said, "it's you again." The happiness he had spotted there earlier seemed to be lost from her face at the moment and he knew he was the cause of that.   
  
"Hey..." he said trying desperately to think of something more to say, but completely drawing up a blank. She looked at him as if expecting an explanation to his sudden appearance on her doorstep.   
  
"I was in the neighbourhood." he lied. She was watching him suspiciously and he knew that she didn't believe him. This was a bad idea, he thought. A really bad idea. What the hell was I thinking? Clearing his throat again, he handed her the small package he was holding.   
  
"I just thought that I would stop by and give you this...since I didn't get the chance yesterday."  
  
"You drove all the way here just to give me a present?" she raised her eyebrows and gave him a look of confusion. "Why?"   
  
"I..." Tristan didn't know what to say. Should have thought of an excuse before you came here, you fool. His brain was running on overdrive trying to think of a reason that would not seem to stupid and her questioning gaze did nothing to help. Finally he sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know really," he mumbled and raised his eyes to her face. "I guess I wanted to apologise." This earned him an even more questioning look from her. "I was a jerk last night," he added and as the words flew out of his mouth he realised that this was part of the reason he had come. He wanted to say he was sorry for treating her the way he did.   
  
"True," she nodded. "But that never made you want to apologise before." She was right. He'd never apologised to her all the other times he had been a jerk to her, but a part of him had wanted to. Whenever he recently had made some comment that was uncalled for and she had stomped angrily away from him, he wanted to take it all back.   
  
"I know," he said slowly. "And I'm sorry for that too.." She was giving him a strange look that he couldn't read. Was she mad at him? Did she understand what he was trying to tell her?   
  
"I was thinking," he started unsure of how to put it, "maybe we could start over?" She stood there watching him silently and when the seconds ticked away without her making a sound, he knew that he shouldn't have said that. Idiot, why should she want to start over. You made her time at Chilton a hell! It would probably be best if he just got away from her house before he would make an even bigger fool of himself.  
  
"I'm sorry for disturbing your party and everything....and...well...Happy Birthday," he managed to get out, then turned around and started walking away.   
  
"Tristan," the sound of her voice made him stop and he turned towards her. "Thanks." All he could do was stare at her for a moment.   
  
"You're welcome," he whispered.   
  
"Would...would you like to come in?" she asked meeting his eyes and gesturing behind her.   
  
Nothing was making sense for him at this moment. He had thought she would let him walk away without a word, and her thanks had surprised him. Not to mention that her invitation had shocked the hell out of him, he must have misheard her.   
  
"You want me....to come in?" he asked, trying to make it clear.   
  
His question seemed to make her uneasy and her eyes darted to the ground.   
  
"If you want to....you probably have something..."  
  
"I'd love to," he interrupted, not believing his luck. Maybe driving to Stars Hollow hadn't been such a bad idea after all. When he reached the porch she was standing on, he put out his hand. "Starting over?" he asked.   
  
"Starting over," she confirmed and took his hand with a small smile.   
  
This definitely was one of my better ideas, Tristan thought as he followed her inside the house and shut the door behind him.   
  
A/N: This story has been messing around in my mind for some time now and I finally got it written. Sadly I had to leave some of the ideas I had for it behind. I had a kiss between them planned, but the story turned in a different direction. 


End file.
